Have we listened to voices of the past?

Three voices from the past that seem to resonate today.

The first voice is Mr. Khrushev of the Soviet Union: "Any man who could stare at the reality of nuclear war without sober thoughts is an irresponsible fool. Only lunatics or suiciders, who themselves want to perish and to destroy the whole world before they die, would do this. We, however, want to live and do not want to destroy your country."

The second voice is John Kennedy, former president of the USA: "Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind. Today, every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be inhabitable. Every man, woman and child live under a nuclear sword of Democules, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment, by accident or miscalculation or madness. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us."

The third voice is from former President Dwight Eisenhower: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket ship fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hope of its children. The cost of one modern bomber is this, a modern school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense."

And I ask, are we any wiser today?

Don Waters

Elgin